Content Marketing Trends for 2023: AI, Platform-native Content, and More

Content marketing is ever-evolving and keeping up with the constant changes is a full-time job. If you’re looking for ways to update your content strategy in 2023, you’ve come to the right place.

Here are some of the biggest content marketing trends for 2023 and some tips for updating strategy in the new year:

1. AI Writing Assistants Are On The Rise

AI writing and design tools got a lot of traction in 2022 and that momentum will likely continue through 2023. 

You can expect to see a lot of brands experimenting with AI for content and design – especially considering the increasing pressure to do more with less. 

Personally, I think these tools are going to be sniffed out pretty quickly, not unlike the article spinners of the early 2010s. That doesn’t mean that they won’t still be useful. I just don’t believe AI is the “growth hack” that it claims to be. 

Learn more about AI writing assistants here.

2. Focus On Creating Helpful Content

This past August, Google rolled out a major core update to their search algorithm. They are calling it the Helpful Content Update and it is intended to – you guessed it – better identify pages that readers find helpful.

Here are a few things you should know about the Helpful Content Update:

1. The new algorithm uses AI and Machine Learning to identify pages that readers find helpful.
2. It will get better at identifying helpful pages as time goes on.
3. Previous algorithms have been rules-based and easier to manipulate.

And how will this affect your content strategy? Here are a few ways you can adapt:

1. Focus on quality over quantity
2. Understand reader intent
3. Provide unique takes and insights on the subject matter
4. Create more “how to” style content and fewer listicles

You can learn more about the Helpful Content Update here.

3. Gated Content Is Becoming Less Effective

There has been a lot of chatter about gated content among content marketers lately and the verdict is in: it’s not as effective as it was in 2014.

So in 2023, give more content away for free and only gate the stuff that is really really good, for example:

• A multi-piece educational series and gating it as a collective “university”
• Original research/industry reports (always a bop, but needs to be done right)
• Post the main part of your content for free and offer an accompanying gated tool (a blog w/ a corresponding checklist or template)
• Use interactive tools, quizzes, and video content as your primary lead gen tools

In 2023, think of your marketing department as a media company and focus on creating really good content that your audience will want to subscribe to.

via GIPHY

4. Platform-native Content Will Dominate

Some of your typical content distribution strategies will become less effective in 2023. If your tactics are limited to distributing links on your social channels and sending a newsletter every time you publish content, it’s time for a refresh.

Here are some facts:

1. LinkedIn posts without external links get 6x more reach than posts with external links
2. Facebook prefers native videos to YouTube links.
3. More and more Google searches are ending without a click

Platform-native content is content that lives within the platform it is being distributed on. It is formatted and optimized to be viewed in a specific context and does not require readers to click a link. In other words, it’s posting content directly to social media instead of sending followers to your blog or website. 

So instead of distributing content, think of ways to distribute insights. Content marketers will need to adopt this strategy in 2023 if they want to keep the momentum going. 

Learn more about platform-native content here. 

5. A Focus On Building Communities

As I mentioned earlier, the way we create and distribute content is going to change. More and more brands are beginning to focus their content strategies on community building and customer engagement.

With social media platforms disincentivizing link sharing and search engines becoming more saturated, producing large volumes of high-quality content will only become less effective.

This also means that traditional KPIs such as web traffic, clicks, and page views will become less reliable signals of engagement. Instead, metrics such as impressions, likes, shares, comments, etc. – previously thought of as vanity metrics – will become more powerful.

In 2023, focus on building a community. Search, social, newsletter: treat all your channels differently and nurture those relationships. Don’t be laser-focused on web traffic.

via GIPHY

6. Content Pruning

The ever-changing Google algorithm keeps us on our toes. As I mentioned earlier about the Helpful Content Update, it is going to become more important than ever to cater to your audience. This means making it easy for them to find the content they are looking for.

All your content, including website copy and blogs, needs to be updated consistently to provide the most value for readers. Content that promotes outdated or irrelevant perspectives should be removed altogether.

Content pruning isn’t anything new, but with Google pushing down sites with “unhelpful” pages, it will become more important than ever in 2023. 

Learn more about content pruning here.

Create A Winning Content Strategy in 2023

The theme for 2023 is to focus on building a community around your brand. Content strategies that put the user first and focus on audience retention will reap the biggest rewards over the next 12 months or so. 

If you could use some help putting together your 2023 content strategy, contact WEBITMD today or download your free Growth Stack Guide below.